Amethi and Raebareli will vote in the fifth phase of ongoing Lok Sabha ekections on May 6.

New Delhi: In a bid to regain both the prestigious parliamentary seats once again, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Congress president Rahul Gandhi and AICC general secretary for UP (East) Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will visit Amethi and Raebareli on Monday. Voting in Amethi and Raebareli is scheduled on May 6 in the fifth phase. Counting of votes will take place on May 23.

While Sonia and Priyanka will stay in Rae Bareli, Rahul will head to his bastion Amethi. District unit president of Congress, Anil Singh, said that Rahul Gandhi will hold road shows in Tiloi and Salon Vidhan Sabha segments during his stay. The Congress chief will also address nukkad sabhas during the road show. Notably, the Congress president is seeking re-election from the constituency and is involved in a direct fight with BJP’s Smriti Irani.

Amethi is considered a bastion of the Congress. The seat has remained mostly with the Congress since 1980. The parliamentary seat of Amethi was first represented by Sanjay Gandhi between 1989-81. After his death in a plane crash, his elder brother Rajiv Gandhi represented the seat till 1991. After Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination, his wife Sonia Gandhi contested from the seat in 1999 and won. Since 2004 the seat is being represented by Rahul Gandhi.

On April 10, Congress president Rahul Gandhi filed his nomination papers from Amethi in Presence of UPA chairperson and mother Sonia Gandhi and sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

Gandhi will take on Union Minister and BJP candidate Smriti Irani in what is seen as a direct contest with the SP-BSP-RLD alliance taking the decision to not field any candidate from the constituency. Raebareli will also see a straight contest between Sonia and Dinesh Pratap Singh, who had recently joined the BJP after leaving the Congress.